Can windows 7 32 bit blue screen because I have 8 gigs of ram?

Question

I know that 32 bit can only address 4 gigs. My Pc was running fine until about a few days ago. Now it blue screens frequently. The thing is I cant get 64 bit to install, and it wont POST unless it has both sticks of ram. I remember in my computer maintenance class the teacher saying he had a problem like this, but I'm not sure... that was a while ago.

Answer 1

I had Win 7 Pro 32bit before I had Win 7 pro 64bit retail version. My computer was sluggish at more intense gaming until I upgraded but it did not blue screen. Those BSODs aren't in Greek. They actually show you where your computer is feeling pain and or confusion. If that wasn't enough you can Google your stop code such as STOP code 0x00000002. It tells you why and where. Up to you to just Google and see the answer. If that wasn't enough you have an event viewer in start/control panel/administrative tools/Event Viewer. Windows routinely keeps a journal there and whines and moans about too much stuff but you can ussually track down causes of many errors in your Event Viewer but Googling your BSOD's info is easier with a fix usually connected at the site. A bad hard drive might show 0x0000007b on the BSOD. Your RAM might be faulty which could cause BSODs but just the fact that you have 8GB is not a cause for a BSOD nor did I experience any when I had Win 7 pro OEM 32bit. I would think a software upgrade is at the heart of this matter such as a bad driver. Sometimes Windows will attempt to upgrade a 3rd party gfx card driver or any software upgrade for that matter and install a driver it thinks is fine but causes BSODs with certain games and has since been patched. A system restore can correct many issues or at least show you where the issue is or is not. My motherboard was fine when I attempted just one 4GB stick of RAM. I didn't have to install both but may be necessary for other motherboards. I have to install 2 RAM modules to meet my boards dual channel nature but it will still operate with 1 stick. Your motherboard may only use 1 DIMM slot when only 1 module is installed and you are jacking into the wrong one. My MSI board suggested installing one closest to the CPU but that varies so you would just Google your motherboard and download it's manual to see if you could in fact use 1 stick or if you might just have a bad RAM module. It may be a CPU or motherboard limitation. A board that can only handle 4GB of RAM may cause a BSOD if 8GB are installed. Some board, regardless of OS, can only handle 4GB or even less system RAM and you of course also need IDENTICAL speeds, Cas latencies and other tech stuff. Conflicting modules is also a bad idea. Conflicting manufacturer doesn't really mean a thing other than public perception and track record.





NO but more RAM than your board can handle might.

Answer 2

If your system will not POST without both sticks of ram, I would suggest that either your ram or motherboard are at fault. Download a copy of Memtest on a different machine, burn to CD and boot your computer from this disk. Allow it to run through at least one full pass with no errors (marked in red on the bottom half of the screen) before you rule out the ram. A bad motherboard can also give ram errors, so if possible, acquire a known good ram module to test in your system as well.

Answer 3

It's probably trying to access 4GB but finding 8GB and getting memory leaks, might wanna try downgrading to 4GB of RAM or upgrade to a 64-bit OS.

Answer 4

If the motherboard can't support 8GB of RAM then yes its normal to blue screen.Anyway,installing 8GB on a 32bit OS defines stupidity